Harbour commuters need to gear up for travelling hardships over weekends for the next three months as blocks three times the normal have been planned.
Harbour commuters need to gear up for travelling hardships over weekends for the next three months as blocks three times the normal have been planned. Blocks have been planned for different kinds of works with the biggest one being split between 24 and 48 hours.
Central Railway (CR) and Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) are slated to operate a series of blocks continuously till the first week of March. The first block is to be operated on January 24 next weekend at Vadala when trains from Kurla to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on Harbour line will be suspended for eight hours.
“This block will basically mean that instead of trains starting by 3 to 3.30 pm in the afternoon, they will start at 5 pm,” said a CR official.
The next two blocks are to be operated on January 31 and February 7 for CR to shift railway tracks a little further from the newly-built Seawoods station.
“The current tracks are closer to the newly-built station-cum-mall. We have to shift these tracks a little further from this building for which we require two weekends, during which Vashi to Panvel services will be suspended,” the official added. The new Seawoods station along with the platforms had been completed for trains to run from that line.
A block will again be taken either on February 14 or 21 for test charging for Harbour line from direct current (DC) 1,500 volts to alternating current (AC) 25,000 volts. The final and biggest block is scheduled to be taken either on February 28 or March 6 for extension of Harbour line platforms to accommodate 12-coach trains. The block will be taken for 24 hours between Vadala and CST after which, services will be run for a few hours and then again, a big block of 48 hours will be operated.
“We are talking with MRVC officials about block timings and dates but if we have to take such a big block, we need to make sure that the work is done, so commuters can see the advantages immediately,” said the official.
The CR had operated a six-hour block on January 10 between CST and Kurla on the Harbour line but was unable to complete the work within the deadline, causing severe chaos.
